30th September, Singapore: Season campaigner, Jack Wong of Singapore rose to the occassion when needed to capture the prestigious 38th Singapore International Open Men's title while Chinese Taipei's Hung Shu-Chun took the women's title Friday afternoon.

Ex-international and top-seed, Jack Wong re-lived his glorious days as one of the top Asian bowlers when he displayed his 25 years of bowling experience to win the Singapore Open title for the second time. Wong won his first title 18 years ago in 1987 when he was 38 years old.

"I'm over the hill over the win," said the 53-year-old veteran. "When I had a split in the first frame, I knew that I was a bit over-excited in this all-important occassion. But I stayed clam and managed to get four strikes in a row. From then on I knew that I could take the title.

"Before the championship, I put in a lot of hard work to make myself fitter and I'm happy that it paid off," added the champion. Wong had gone into the stepladder finals as top-seed after ending the grueilling 16-games finals over two days with a total of 3492.

Second-seed, Adrian Ang had all sorts of problems going into the final match and could not repeat the form he showed in the previous match which he won by knocking out third-seed, Cheng Chao-Sheng of Chinese Taipei and winner of the first match, Daniel Lim, 230-217-219 to have a crack at the title.

Fourth-seed, Daniel Lim ousted teammate and fifth-seed, Zaid Izlan and Singapore's David Wong, 216-179-189 and almost won the second match had he struck home in the final frame. Jack Wong took home S$25,000 while runner-up Adrian Ang won S$10,000 and Cheng was S$5,000 richer.

Singapore almost scored a double when SEA Games bound, Alice Tay lost the deciding match, 195-226 to top-seed, Hung Shu-Chun of Chinese Taipei. Tay won the first match, 203-174 to force Hung into the sudden-death final match.

Tay, who finished fifth in the second block masters finals, was in superb form winning the first match by knocking out fourth-seed and Women's World Championship Gold medalist, Esther Cheah of Malaysia and teammate, Jennifer Tan, 230-181-226.

The runner-up went on to take the second match after she edged second-seed Tsai Hsin-Yi and current Asian ranked No. 1, Wang Yu-Ling of Chinese Taipei, 208-193-184 before going down to the champion in the final match.

Chinese Taipei women ended the second block finals occupying the top three positions with Hung as top-seed with a total of 3363. Tsai finished second with 3321 ahead of first block leader, Wang in third with 3246.

The champion won S$5,000 for her effort while Tay settled for S$2,500 for second. Tsai took home S$1,200 for ending in third after the stepladder finals. The top 16 men and women also made the cut for the ABF Tour Singapore leg which will be held at Victor's Superbowl on Saturday morning.

The 38th edition of the prestigious Singapore Open attracted more than 450 bowlers from Colombia, France, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar and Vietnam pitching against the home team, Singapore.

Photos by Terence Yaw for SBF..

29th September, Singapore: Spinners dominated the Women's Open Masters first block in the 38th Singapore International Open with Chinese Taipei's Wang Yu-Ling and Hung Shu-Chun occupying the top two spots.

Wang, who won three God medals in the Women's World Championship in Denmark last month, led from from the halfway mark to finish in the 8-game forst block finals with a convincing score of 1724. The leader set a scorching pace with 225 and 267 in her first two games and thereafter kept a constant pace to lead teammate, Hung Shu-Chun.

Hung totalled 1676, 48 pins adrift to give the Taiwanese a 1-2 finish while Filipina, Liza Clutario's strong final two games shot her to third with a total of 1650. Defending champion, Liza Del Rosario, who led briefly after the fifth game, ended her block with two low games in the seventh and eighth and dropped to sixth with 1634.

Two Singapore spinners, Jennifer Tan and Ong She Na kept in close contact with the leaders to finish the day with 1644 and 1638 to take up fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Two more Taiwanese spinners, Tsai Ting-Yi and Chu Yu-Chieh occupied seventh and ninth positions while Women's World Championship Gold medalist, Esther Cheah of Malaysia with teammate, Zandra Aziela completed the top 10 in eighth and tenth spots on 1617 and 1616.

Four Singaporeans with Amanda Ng, Catherine Kang, Alice Tay and Geraldine Ng taking up 11th to 14th positions. The women will complete their second block of 8 games Friday, 30th September at the end of which the top 6 will make the cut for the stepladder finals. The top 16 women will also qualify for the final leg of the ABF Tour - Singapore to be played on Saturday, 1st October.

Photos by Terence Yaw for SBF.

29th September, Singapore: Only 50 pins seperated the top 10 in the Men's Open Masters first block finals of the 38th Singapore International Open which ended this afternoon at Victor's Superbowl.

The top 39 Men's Open finalists took to the lanes this afternoon which saw Malaysian bowlers, Adrian Ang and Daniel Lim taking up the top two positions at the end of the 8-game first block finals. Ang, 16 set a scorching pace in the first half of the block to lead by a comfortable margin but then encountered problems from game 5 onwards.

"The lane conditions started to break down at the fifth game and I was caught with it," said the 16-year-old national bowler. "I had to make a lot adjustments and changes to get back into the game. Ang ended with a 213 in his final game to lead the field of 39 finalists on 1750 total.

Teammate and two-time National champion, Daniel Lim was also superb finishing second to Ang, 40 pins adrift on 1710. "Except for the slow start in the first game, I'm happy to have bowl well today," said the 28-year-old. "I hope I can maintain my position in the second block and make the top 6 stepladder finals.

Tyrone Ongpauco was the best Filipino performer taking up third spot with 1709, just 1 pin behind Lim followed by Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-Sheng and the evergreen, Jack Wong of Singapore tieing in fourth position with 1698.

"I didn't do so well this year except for finishing fourth in the Chinese Taipei Open," said the 30-year-old Ongpauco. "I had to bowl on a tighter line as opposed to my usual angle and it paid off. I hope I can keep up the same pace for tomorrow.

Less than 15 pins seperated fourth-placed, Cheng Chao-Sheng (TPE-1698), Jack Wong (SIN-1698), Zaid Izlan (MAS-1696), David Wong (SIN-1695), Chester King (PHI-1682) and Youth Boys champion, Ernie Cheng (TPE-1669).

ABF Tour TOC champion, Wu Siu Hong finished 12th with 1639 and local crowd favourite, Remy Ong could only manage a 17th-place finish with 1614. Top qualifier, Jason Belmonte of Australia struggled throughout the block to end up 38th position.

The 39 men will continue their second block of 8 games Friday morning at the end of which the top 6 will make the cut for the stepladder finals. The women's first block will start shortly after lane maintenance.

Photos by Terence Yaw for SBF.

29th September, Singapore: National youth, Sharon Koh put in a superb performance to bag the Youth Girl's Masters title of the 38th Singapore International Open while Chinese Taipei's Ernie Cheng took the Boy's crown at Victor's Superbowl this morning.

Koh, 18 was in her element when she took an early lead in a field of 12 finalist with lines of 194, 214, 211 and 189 after the first 4 games. But a 181 in the fifth allowed challenger, Mai An Ni of Chinese Taipei to narrow the gap. Koh fought on galantly to hang on to a slender lead but a poor 156 in the ninth game saw Mai taking over the lead by a mere 2 pins.

The champion, who won two Gold medals in the Asian Schools championship this year, displayed tremendous fighting spirit to wrestle back the lead with 209 in her final game and snatched a well deserve win with a total of 1922.

Newcomer, Mai An Ni settled for second with a total of 1908 while Singapore National Championship 5 God medalist, Gina Lim finished third with 1867. Low Xin Pin did well to take fifth spot with 1836 behind fourth-placed, Michelle Tan of Singapore.

In the boy's division, GP Finals champion, Khairul Hafidz let the title slip through his fingers in his last three games and dropped to fourth. The 18-year-old was leading from the word "Go' but low games of 148, 174 and 153 spoilt his day.

Last year's Cathay Bowl Junior Classic champion and Asian Schools Silver medalist, Ernie Cheng Hsing-Chao snatch the victory with a total of 2117. GP Finals runner-up, Fahmi Bahri finished second with 2041 while Brunei's AK Mohd Aizat pipped Khairul for third spot with 2021 and Khairul ended up in fourth with 1975.

The Men's Open finals will commence shortly after the lane dressing. Detailed scores of Youth Girl's Finals and Youth Boy's Finals are available.

Photos by Terence Yaw for SBF.

28th September, Singapore: Jason Belmonte of Australia staked his claim on the Master's title of the 38th Singapore International Open by taking over the lead in the Men's Open qualifying table at Victor's Superbowl Wednesday afternoon.

Belmonte, who finished third runner-up in the World Tenpin Masters in May this year, almost scored the tournament's second perfet game when he posted lines of 215, 299, 268 and 236 for a total of 1018. The World Youth Gold medalist also became the first bowler to surpass the 1,000-mark in his first attempt.

"I made a mess of my last throw and the ball went straight to the head pin," said the 22-year-old Belmonte. "I knew that I had to make a good shot if I were to score the perfect game but somehow didn't get a good release. I'm happy to have made the finals after only one attempt.

Belmonte took over the lead held by Malaysia's Adrian Ang, who now dropped to second with his 969 followed by Tyrone Ongpauco of the Philippines in third with 967. The first perfect game was shot by Kuwait's Nouri Alamiri yesterday when he posted 182, 214, 300 and 229 for a total of 929.

"I didn't know that there was a $S10,000 cash award for the first bowler until I completed by qualifying round," said the 47-year-old businessman. "So I'm happy to score the first perfect game here and my career third.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Putty Armein improved on her earlier score to take over the lead in the women's division with a superb 898. Overnight leaders, Jennifer Tan and Pan Yu-Fen, who shared the lead, dropped to second with 880.

Malaysian women also made good progress with Women's World Championship Gold medalist, Esther Cheah also improving to take up third in the overseas pool with 861 followed by ABF Tour Indonesia leg semifinalist, Zandra Aziela on 858.

Last year's National champion, Jazreel Tan made up grounds to finish second in the local pool behind Jennifer with 869 ahead of reigning National champion, Jasmine Yeong Nathan in third spot with 863 and early leader, Ong She Na in fourth with 860.

Qualifying will end in the early hours of 29th September and the Open Masters finals will be contested over two blocks of 8 games each on Thursday and Friday. The top 16 Asian men and women will qualify for the ABF Tour Singapore leg at the end of the Singapore Open masters finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw for SBF.

27th September, Singapore: Leaders maintained top positions in the qualifying leaderboard as the 38th Singapore International Open Bowling Championship enters the last day at Victor's Superbowl.

Tan, the ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, continued to share the overall top spot with Chinese Taipei's Pan Yu-Fen with a score of 880. The Singaporean had skipped the Hong Kong Open two weeks ago due to the centralised training of the national team in preparation for the all-important SEA Games this November.

Second in the table was ABF Tour Indonesia leg runner-up and reigning National champion, Jasmine Yeong Nathan, who posted 863. Although Jasmine is assured of a spot in the finals, she will need to do well to make the cut for the ABF Tour Singapore leg this weekend in order to earn sufficient points to qualify for the ABF Tour - Tournament of Champions in January.

Early leader, Ong She Na took third spot with 860 while the overseas table is led by Asian Championship triple Gold medalist, Pan Yu-Fen. Newcomer, Mai An-Ni did well to finish second to Pan with 850.

Singapore's Alvin Kwang remained top of the men's division with 998 to lead Jack Wong and Remy Ong with 996 and 985 respectively. Kwang will also be hoping to do well here on home soil to stand a chance to be picked for the SEA Games.

In the overseas pool, Malaysian's youngster and 17-year-old, Adrian Ang led with a score of 969 with Filipino, Tyrone Ongpauco storming into second spot with 967. Indonesia's top bowler, Ryan Lalisang improved to move up to third from the mixed pool with 941.

Tsai Ting-Yun was the best of the Chinese Taipei finisher in fourth with 934 ahead of Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong in fifth with 931. Newcomer, Tran Thien Khiem of Vietnam, competing for the first time, topped the mixed pool with 870.

Qualifying ends tomorrow (28th September) and the Open Masters finals will be contested over two blocks of 8 games each on Thursday and Friday. The top 16 Asian men and women will qualify for the ABF Tour Singapore leg at the end of the Singapore Open masters finals.

Photos courtesy of Singapore Bowling Federation.

26th September, Singapore: Lead changed hands as Singapore's Alvin Kwang moved to the top of the Men's leaderboard in the 38th Singapore International Open Bowling Championship at Victor's Superbowl Monday afternoon.

Kwang, who was ninth, took over the lead with a superb 998, just two pins short of the magical 1,000-mark in his 4-game qualifying round this afternoon. Overnight leader and season campaigner, Jack Wong settled for second with a score of 996 followed by Hong Kong Open champion, Remy Ong in third with 985.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Adrian Ang impressed when he posted 969 to grab the lead in the overseas pool and fourth overall. Chinese Taipei bowlers also made an impact when they arrived Sunday with Tsai Ting-Yun and Wang Tien-Fu taking up second and fourth in the table with 934 and 893 respectively.

Filipino, Mike Crisol is sandwiched between the two Taipei bowlers in third with 899. Early leader in the overseas pool, Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar got relegated to fifth spot on a score of 885.

In the women's division, ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Jennifer Tan of Singapore and Asian Championship triple Gold medalist, Pan Yu-Fen of Chinese Taipei shared top spot with a score of 880 to take over the lead.

Reigning National Champion and ABF Tour Indonesia leg runner-up, Jasmine Yeong Nathan noted up another superb performance to take second spot with 863 while early leader, Ong She Na of Singapore dropped to third with 860.

Ex-international, Tang Joh Six of Malaysia finished second in the overseas pool with 837 followed by former Singapore national bowler, Yap Seok Kim was third with 810.

Chinese Taipei's Chu Yu-Chieh (804), Wang Yu Ling (801) and Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung (796) finished fourth to sixth respectively. Four-time, Asian ranked No. 1, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia, who skipped two tournaments to complete her university thesis appeared a little rusty and only managing a 790 for seventh position.

Qualifying continues till 28th September when the top 39 men and top 29 women together with defending champion, Liza Del Rosario will contest the finals over two blocks of 8 games on 29th and 30th September.

Photos courtesy of Singapore Bowling Federation.

25th September, Singapore: Season campaigner and veteran, Jack Wong of Singapore showed the way by leading the Men's Open Masters qualfying table of the 38th Singapore International Open Bowling Championship underway at Victor's Superbowl.

The 53-year-old ex-international last outing was finishing second runner-up in the Vietnam Open last month despite leading the first block. Wong also finished sixth in the 36th CDL National Championship in June this year.

A good showing in the on-going Singapore Open will add confidence when he defends the Penang Pesta Masters' title this December. Fresh from winning the Hong Kong Open title, national bowler, Remy Ong will also be hoping to do well in the masters to boost his confidence and peak in time for the all-important 23rd SEA Games in Manila in November.

Qatar Open champion, Lee Yu Wen did well to take up third spot ahead of teammate, Shaun Ng in fourth position with 915 while David Wong rounded up the top 5 in fifth spot with 908.

Meanwhile, national bowler, Ong She Na topped the women's leaderboard with a score of 860. Second in the table went to ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Jennifer Tan with 839 while Rena Teng tied in third with 2004 National champion, Jazreel Tan on 835.

Ong will be hoping to do well in this championship and stand a chance to be picked to represent the country for the SEA Games. 2003 Singapore Open champion, Evelyn Chan rounded up the top 5 with a score of 831.

Reigning National champion, Jasmine Yeong Nathan could only manage a tenth place finish on 781 and will have to improve on her score in order to make the finals. The 16-year-old will also be hoping to finish in the top 16 to make the ABF Tour Singapore leg and earn enough points to qualify for the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions.

The bulk of the overseas participants will be arriving Singapore today and tomorrow and will take on to the lanes for their qualifying rounds. The top 39 men and top 29 women plus the defending champion, Liza Del Rosario of the Philippines, will contest their Masters finals on the 29th and 30th September.

Photos courtesy of Singapore Bowling Federation.